


Dreaming a new reality

by Night_Queen3927



Series: Finding the Light [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Apologies, Coma, Conversations, Fantasy, Gen, How Do I Tag, Lucid Dreaming, Nature, Protective Sabine, Protective Tom, Regret, mad mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_Queen3927/pseuds/Night_Queen3927
Summary: Dreams can be remarkably vivid, so vivid that it is confused with reality. Reality and dreams have blurred together for Marinette, unable to distinguish between them
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Finding the Light [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1531703
Comments: 18
Kudos: 324





	Dreaming a new reality

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own ML. Their plot holes and deus ex machinas are too big and unwieldy to have been written by me
> 
> I'M BACK!!! 
> 
> Getting back into the swing of college and my courses are difficult both of which sent my muse crying to their home and stole my time away.
> 
> Warnings/Disclaimers:  
> #1: This is part of a series. You will not know why some things are happening if you don't read the previous work(s). Don't whine about not understanding it/specific plot points if it has been covered previously.
> 
> #2: This does have Marinette in the hospital, there is no graphic content about the hospital.

_Dream-reality confusion. An inability to separate a dream from reality. The belief that maybe your dreams truly happened in your real life. The belief that things that have happened in reality were merely the products of a dream._

“Where are we, Kari?” Marinette asked, a gentle smile on her lips as she gazed out at a flower covered meadow. “This is beautiful.”

“We are in Arvieux. This is a flower field just outside the village.” Kari answered, holding onto Marinette’s hand. “You said that you wanted to go to a meadow and see different animals than your standard Parisian fare of rats, squirrels, and pigeons in the city.”

Deer grazed at the edges of the meadow, partially concealed by the shadows cast by the towering trees behind them. A pair of birds danced in the sky above Marinette and Kari, vivid plumage creating a dazzling display. Hummingbirds darted from flower to flower, wings beating so fast that they were a blur and creating a quiet buzz.

“Look, Kari!” Marinette was gleeful, all the burdens from her everyday life falling off of her shoulders, allowing her to behave as a 14 year old should. Free from the stress of having to save Paris daily, from the responsibilities of her position as class representative, from constantly overstretching herself. She threw out her hand, indicating a large blue butterfly that was flitting from flower to flower. “It’s a _Phengaris arion_! They went extinct in Britain, but through careful efforts, they were brought back.

“Very good eye, Mademoiselle. I must say that few people know the scientific name of the _Phengaris arion_ , they prefer to call it by its most common name, the _Large Blue_.” A man appeared by side of Marinette and Kari, his voice complimentary at first but switching quickly to derisive very quickly. He was leaning on a simple black walking stick that had a single purple butterfly painted on the body.

Marinette just smiled, ignoring the change in vocal inflection that the man had. Looking up at the man, she cupped her hand over the back of her neck and said, “Well, typically only those who are deeply interested know scientific names. Besides there are reasons that common names exist. It makes it easier for more people to know what it is you are discussing, for example if I ask for some sodium chloride, a fair number of people wouldn’t realize that I was asking for common table salt.”

The man ran his hand through his purple streaked blonde hair and let out a soft chuckle. “You are right, mademoiselle. May I know the name of the young lady with whom I’m talking?”

“My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Marinette introduced herself, dipping her head in acknowledgement. “May I have your name, Monsieur?”

The man bowed, his arm folded in front of his waist, and said, “My name is Adelpha, Mademoiselle Marinette. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

“I’m Kari.” Kari inserted, a saccharine sweet smile on their lips. “Pleasure to see you M. Adelpha.”

“Just Adelpha, please Kari. We have known each other for too long to be so formal.” Adelpha replied, a cool smile on his lips.

“It has been such as long time, Adelpha.” Kari replied, the smile still on their lips. “I just didn’t want to presume anything.”

“Oh, Kari. No matter how long we go without seeing each other, I would never want to be formal with you.” Adelpha smirked, catching Kari’s hand and planting a kiss on it.

“Kari, how do you know M. Adelpha?” Marinette asked, brushing a loose lock of hair out of her face.

“Adelpha and I worked together for a time, a long time ago.” Kari said, refusing to elaborate. “We parted on poor terms and I haven’t seen him since.”

“We worked together on a job. My boss had made some unfortunate choices that resulted in an unfavorable outcome that I was forced to cause. Kari was the one who had to come and take care of the mess that my boss made me created. She’s been angry at me ever since.” Adelpha swooped in, shedding more light on the details.

“I don’t like cleaning up what you inevitably cause with your bad bosses.” Kari snapped, glaring at Adelpha.

“I can’t do anything about that, Kari!” Adelpha groaned, burying his face in his hands. “My contract makes it impossible for me to disobey my boss.”

“Why are you here, Adelpha?” Kari asked, rubbing their temples. “I thought that Polaris and Denebola were in charge of undoing whatever havoc your boss gets up to.”

“Polaris’ child has become injured and she is busy watching over them.” Adelpha explained, spreading his arms in a gesture of helplessness, stick dangling from his wrist. “You know the rules, Denebola cannot work without Polaris with him. Too much destruction in the end.”

“No.” Kari sighed, all the fight leaving their body. “Don’t tell me.”

Adelpha gave a single nod before turning to Marinette, a smile touching his lips. “So, Mademoiselle Marinette, what is your favorite story?”

“Why do you ask, M. Adelpha?” Marinette asked, her eyes still fixed on the animals darting around the meadow. A single butterfly flitted over and perched upon her white dress. 

“I find that people’s true natures are often revealed through the types of stories that they prefer. For example, I adore romance stories because the couple go through trials to prove that they truly love each other and they have a happy ending.” Adelpha said, sitting down on the ground next to Marinette. A tanned hand swept away creases in his black slacks and white pressed collared shirt. His walking stick rested by his leg.

“I like fairy tales the best.” Marinette laughed, the sound ringing out in the still meadow, as a fawn nosed around her knees. “The stories are full of wonder and in the end, balance is achieved. The good get their rewards and the wicked their punishments.”

“How marvelous. Any specific fairy tale that you like more than others?” Adelpha pressed gently, digging out Marinette’s preferences.

“I know that it is a bit cliche, but I do enjoy ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’. It isn’t quite as bloody as others, but it still offers a valuable lesson.” Marinette said, a blush painting itself across her cheeks. “For me, it means that you shouldn’t lie. Because people will find out that you lied and eventually, they will not believe anything that you say, no matter how important it is.”

“That is a good fairy tale to like. I must confess, I thought that someone who is as kind and forgiving as you would prefer Cinderella. At least the modern take on Cinderella.” Adelpha said, rolling his shoulders back.

“She is a good model for rising above what others do and how eventually the scales of balance will be evened out. But, I don’t know. I just like other stories above her.” Marinette said, flopping back so that she could sprawl out in the grass.

“Well, it was lovely to chat with you, Marinette.” Adelpha stood up in one smooth motion. Delicately, he swept grass blades off of his slacks and adjusted his shirt. “I’m afraid that my boss is calling for me now, and I need to go and fulfill my duties.” Catching Marinette’s hand in his, Adelpha bent over and kissed the air above her knuckles. “It was a pleasure, Marinette.” Spinning around, he snatched Kari’s hand and pressed his forehead to their hand. “Don’t be a stranger, Kari.” With that, he grabbed his walking stick and set off, disappearing into the distance.

“Do you need to go and clean up after him, Kari?” Marinette asked, tilting her head so that she could see Kari’s face.

“No. Right now, the others have to clean up after him. I’ll stay right here with you.” Kari smiled softly, their eyes watering minutely. They sat down next to Marinette, slinging their arm around her shoulder and resting their head on hers.

Smiling, Marinette snuggled up to Kari, closing her eyes. A single butterfly landed on Marinette’s shirt, wings beating lazily as they positioned themselves.

~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_

“NO!” Sabine shrieked, a magazine swiping through the air so fast and hard that an audible whistling sound was created. “STAY AWAY FROM MY MARINETTE!!” The target of her rage and attack dodged every swipe, advancing steadily towards Marinette. Sabine lunged with her magazine in hand, determined to knock her enemy out of the air, only to overbalance and fall on the floor.

Freed of its obstacle, the purple and black butterfly finally settled on Marinette’s bandages on her head, turning it black. Black goo bubbled up and concealed Marinette from view.

When it had vanished, Marinette was enclosed within a glass container that was reminiscent of the coffin that Snow White was placed in after she bit into the poison apple. Emblazoned on the side in flowing, gold script was a name, ‘The Storyteller’. Marinette’s hospital gown had transformed into a red sheath dress embroidered with tiny scenes of different fairy tales in gold. Her hands were folded on top of a book entitled ‘The Book of Stories’.

Sabine lunged up with a shout of rage, slamming her fists futilely against the glass. “Give me my daughter, Hawkmoth! She’s in a coma, she can’t get any miraculouses for you!”

A lilting voice echoed through the sterile hospital room. “Sabine Cheng. Your heart is pure and worthy of being on the side of good in a fairy tale. You shall be the mother of Sleeping Beauty.” When the voice finished its pronouncement, a golden beam leapt from the book and struck Sabine, transforming her into the character. A golden crown was perched upon her head and her clothes turned into a red qipao with characters stitched around the hems. 

“Sabine! What is wrong!” Tom shouted, struggling through the door into the hospital room. Eyes landing on Marinette, he understood what was wrong quickly. Letting out a shout of rage, he slammed his fist on the container, trying to free his daughter.

“Tom Dupain,” The voice spoke, a slight inflection of curiosity in their voice. “You fit the Woodsman in Red Riding Hood best, protective of the innocent and strong of body and mind. You shall be the Woodsman.” With that pronouncement, the same golden light hit Tom, transforming his clothing into sturdier clothing that would blend into the forest while withstanding it and creating an axe for him to carry.

~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_

“Master?” A high-pitched voice tentatively piped up.

“Yes, Nooroo?” The master responded, heaving a sigh.

“Why did you akumatize Marinette? She can’t do anything on her own to get the Miraculouses that you want.” Nooroo asked, his voice showing his confusion.

“It is more of an apology than anything, Nooroo.” Gabriel Agreste answered, looking out his window to his lawn where his son was sitting in the sun. “Marinette is a good friend to Adrien, one that I wish he understood the true value of. I never meant for Lila to gain so much power over her, I just wanted Marinette to finally be angry enough that I could akumatize her.”

“But you just akumatized her. Shouldn’t you be happy?”

“It is bittersweet. Right now any emotions will register as extremely high, and she is empathetic to any emotions. I just had to send an Akuma to her room, and her mother would get angry and pass that to Marinette so that I could Akumatize her.” Gabriel answered, fiddling with a ring on his finger.

“But what was the purpose?” Nooroo persisted in his question.

“An apology. Marinette will get to put everyone that she knows into an appropriate role in a fairy tale. It is likely that she will also take out Ladybug and Chat Noir since she knows a large number of people and remembers them. I will be able to take the Miraculouses while she can finally expose Lila as a liar to all.” Gabriel turned around and sat down at his desk. Pulling his laptop towards him, he started typing on it, fingers flying. “I never meant for Marinette to ever be hurt this much.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and as always, I hope that it was worthwhile.
> 
> Per standard practice, if I screwed up with tags/format/grammar, feel free to tell me. I'm not perfect and don't really wanna be.
> 
> Name explanation:
> 
> First the Kwamis have 2 names, one for the guardian/new wielders and one for those they trust. So names like Tikki, Plagg, Nooroo, Roarr, Trixx, are all names for the guardian. The following names are the ones for their trusted.
> 
> Polaris is another name for the North Star which can be seen from anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere and is called the guiding star. Polaris is the Kwami's own name for Tikki because she is one of the leaders of the box.
> 
> Denebola is a star in the Leo constellation. As you might've guessed, Denebola refers to Plagg because Leo is a lion which is a cat and Plagg is a cat.
> 
> Adelpha is a name for a genus of butterflies. It is the private/secret name for Nooroo since he is a butterfly mouse thingy.
> 
> I might update this with adventures of akuma!marinette in a coma. Depends on the muse as well as if I have time. Organic Chemistry makes the muse wither away and eats away at my time.


End file.
